Volume 5, Number 9 · December 9, 1965
Herzog in Venice
By Bernard Bergonzi
Stitch
by Richard Stern
Harper & Row, 205 pp., $4.95
In the World
by George P. Elliott
Viking, 442 pp., $6.95
The opening sentence of Stitch tells us not only where we are but what to expect: 'The vaporetto to the Giudecca which Edward usually caught at night left the San Zaccaria pier at 11:59, an odd lime which magnified his fear of missing it and having to hang around the Riva for another hour.' James and Corvo, Mann and Hemingway, have all been here before; but the fascination of Venice is inexhaustible, and the Venice-novel is one of the most solidly established genres of modern fiction. There is also something markedly generic about Mr. Stern's hero, not the eponymons Stitch, but Edward Gunther, an American is Venice who runs formidably true to type. Edward is nearing middle age. Jewish, twice-married, rather overweight, and heavily in love with the idea of European culture. He has thrown over a steady copy-writing job and transported his wife and three children to Venice, where he lives in a palazzo and dreams of literary success; he writes thinly pretentions essays, and has large aims:
Review, 1666 words
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